3 ms·

Sorry, I thought you were implying "let" would be one more thing to remember (taking one of the ~7 slots), and that's why we SHOULDN'T use it. > APL is by far

Sorry, I thought you were implying "let" would be one more thing to remember (taking one of the ~7 slots), and that's why we SHOULDN'T use it. > APL is by far the cognitively easiest language, which is demonstrably false. (that was a lower case L typing on phone, sorrt). APL code is incredibly short - 7 APL chars are usually equivalent to 50-100 in other languages. One would expect that would make it easy to master & read, but experience from the last 60 years or so shows that's not true.

K0SM0S 7y ago
Ah, fair enough. Re-reading my comment, I once more failed to remove ambiguity. My bad. For clarity, we SHOULD use `let` with beginners, and any such pre-existing concept whenever possible. There's a time to reinvent some wheels I guess, but while first learning to drive certainly isn't it. APL, haha gotcha. Way to zero-in on the edgest perfect case! It indubitably shows how a "short" form is not necessarily cognitively "light", which has everything to do with familiarity in my book— a sizeable body of knowledge already internalized, already abstracted into a symbol or form— e.g. "let x", or a function whatever the abbreviation, the logical construct if... then... else, etc. Indeed should I speak to you in "objects you know" as a basis for language, chances are translation is possible between my ideas and those fundamental bricks of yours— some arragement thereof, that encodes whatever I want to convey. This is where/how actual pedagogy begins for me (totally layman perception, no formal training whatsoever). But failing the basic math background, these concepts fall back one-step removed from cognitive ease. I find it's extremely useful to speak in whatever domain language fits the student's background. Meet them halfway there so to speak, if I can help it.

3 ms·

Sorry, I thought you were implying "let" would be one more thing to remember (taking one of the ~7 slots), and that's why we SHOULDN'T use it. > APL is by far

by beagle3 7y ago

K0SM0S 7y ago
Ah, fair enough. Re-reading my comment, I once more failed to remove ambiguity. My bad. For clarity, we SHOULD use `let` with beginners, and any such pre-existing concept whenever possible. There's a time to reinvent some wheels I guess, but while first learning to drive certainly isn't it. APL, haha gotcha. Way to zero-in on the edgest perfect case! It indubitably shows how a "short" form is not necessarily cognitively "light", which has everything to do with familiarity in my book— a sizeable body of knowledge already internalized, already abstracted into a symbol or form— e.g. "let x", or a function whatever the abbreviation, the logical construct if... then... else, etc. Indeed should I speak to you in "objects you know" as a basis for language, chances are translation is possible between my ideas and those fundamental bricks of yours— some arragement thereof, that encodes whatever I want to convey. This is where/how actual pedagogy begins for me (totally layman perception, no formal training whatsoever). But failing the basic math background, these concepts fall back one-step removed from cognitive ease. I find it's extremely useful to speak in whatever domain language fits the student's background. Meet them halfway there so to speak, if I can help it.